His death at the hands of a deranged psychopath should remind us of the courageous efforts of Mr Foley and other journalists who seek to inform us of what they witness on the front line of conflicts around the world.

The NUJ is right to demand that governments there and everywhere else investigate all such killings, recognising the importance of free press and broadcasting media to any society which claims to be civilised.

The Morning Star holds no brief for Isis and other Islamic fundamentalist groups.

But this is not the only reason why British, US and other condemnations of Isis barbarism will cut no ice in Iraq, Syria or in extreme Islamist circles in Britain.

Nobody will be dissuaded by Prime Minister David Cameron, President Barack Obama or the likes of Tony Blair from signing up for “holy war” against secularism and the West.

It is the sheer hypocrisy and double standards of Western imperialism which render their condemnations utterly ineffective.

After all, Israeli killers have just murdered more than 2,000 defenceless Palestinian civilians in Gaza with no condemnation worth the name from the British or US governments.

True, Israeli soldiers didn’t individually cut the throats of all these women, children and men, but is it fundamentally less barbaric to blast people to pieces in their own homes by fighter plane rocket or artillery shell?

7 thoughts on “ISIS, and other violent crime”

I am not convinced the slaughter of Fowley, is anymore cruel than the militant forces of the First World Allies, the incessant resort to violence as a military force of domination over others is a reflection on those who inflict cruelty and violence on those who are less able to respond.